The Guy Next Door
by Meowth's Toon Dragon
Summary: When Cody sees the most popular couple at school fight, he finds himself suddenly on the date of his dreams


**The guy next door**

**I don't own Cody, whoever made TDI does**

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As Cody Anderson walked through the halls of Maple Wood High School on that crisp April morning, he couldn't help but wring his hands nervously as he looked at all the other girls around him, some already chatting it up with beefy football players or roughneck badass types. He'd always been considered "just a friend" and "a real nice guy" but deep down he really wished that one girl would think of him possibly as more than a friend.

Unlike most boys, he wasn't exactly good at sports, being a bit of a technical wizard himself. He'd even once made a computer using only parts found in his dad's garage. But he knew the girls around the school looked more for a man's muscle size than their intellect, so he kept that invention a secret.

"Is there ANY girl around here that would let a guy like me even go out with here once?", he seemingly sililoqued to himself, while keeping his voice down so no one could hear him. He didn't need people thinking he was weirder than they already thought.

"DAMN IT, ERICK! I MADE THOSE RESERVATIONS WEEKS AGO!"

The loud scream shook Cody, as well as nearly the whole hallway, from their thoughts and as he looked around, he quickly discovered the source of the screaming. There, in one of the homerooms, were Erick Westlon and April Kingsley, one of the most popular, yet argumentative, couples in the entire high school. It was widely known though that Erick often let his guy friends come before April, showing up late for dates or even blowing her off altogether. It wasn't that Erick didn't care about April, he was just too popular for his own good, being captain of the Maple Wood Tigers, the school''s football team.

"April, Johnny Benzo is gonna take the whole team out go-karting! You know I love driving go-karts!"

"But you promised me if I could get reservations for Chateau De Branc, you'd go with me! You know how much I had to pay them just to get a reservation?"

"But that place only serves french food anyways! You know I flunked at speaking espanol!"

"That's spanish, dumbass!"

"See? That's how bad I am! I'm not gonna turn down the team just to go to dinner with you, I'm sorry!"

"You know what, fine! I bet any other guy here would LOVE to take me to the Chateau!"

"If you can find someone willing to go out with the girlfriend of the STRONG-BUILT CAPTAIN of the football team to a restaurant that charges 500 dollars for a glass of water, go right ahead!"

This was it, this was Cody's chance. He knew he had to make a move before someone else swooped in. Taking a deep swallow, he gathered his nerve and walked into the homeroom, clearing his throat to get their attention.

"I-I could take her to the Chateau.", he stammered as he looked at the two figures before him.

"Fine, whatever!", April blurted out, throwing her hands into the air, "you wanna take me to the Chateau, that's great!"

"Him? With Cody Anderson?", Erick flustered as he watched April reach into her pink purse and pull out her notepad, starting to write on it, "C'mon babe..."

"Forget it, Erick! I had to pay out my bazoombas to get a reservation there, you know how much they dislike high-school kids ever since that Duncan kid spraypainted THIS PLACE MADE ME BARF on the windows! If Cody's willing to go with me there, then he can go with me while you and your football friends go speeding around on those crappy go-karts!"

"Fine! We will!"

With that, Erick stormed out of the room, shoving Cody aside hard enough to knock him to the floor. Immediately, April reached down and helped the boy get back to his feet. While she was popular, rich, and very hot, she was also considerate.

"Sorry about that, Cody. He can be such a moron!"

"Naw, don't worry about it." Cody laughed as he rubbed his hand behind his head, ruffling his chocolate-brown hair. "So, would you really allow me to go with you to the Chateau?"

"If you can afford it, sure. Just pick me up at 6 tonight. Here's my address."

With that, April tore off the sheet of notepad she'd been writing on and handed it to the young boy, patting him on the shoulder before she walked out of the homeroom. Cody just looked down at the sheet of paper he now held and felt a giddy smile come on his face. It'd all happened in less than a minute and he now had a date with one of the most popular girls in schools!

"Yes... YES... YES! WOOOOO!", he cheered, doing a little dance of victory. He knew the door was open and he didn't care who saw him dance, he just felt so giddy!

* * *

5:30 P.M.

As April heard the knock at her door, just having finished getting ready, she couldn't help but laugh at what was going on right now. Cody Anderson, one of the biggest geeks in school, was now going out with her to one of the most exclusive restaurants in all of MapleWood. It would serve Erick right for blowing her off.

"Yes, what is it, Jameson?", she called out to her butler

"Master Cody Anderson is at the door. Should I let him in?"

"I'll be damned, he showed up early!", she thought to herself with a smile as she spoke, "Yes, let him in. By the way, Jameson?"

"Yes, madam?"

"Would you like anything from the Chateau?"

"I wouldn't mind some of their Duck a'la Orange, madam."

"Very well, I'll bring some back for you."

"Thank you very much, madam."

As she heard Jameson walking away from her door, she smiled to herself as she opened her bedroom door and walked down the hallway. She liked Jameson, the 50-year-old butler having worked for her family for almost 30 years with unwavering loyalty, and enjoyed doing things for him to show him gratitude for his service. In return, the butler took extra pride in his job and came to look at the Kingsleys as a second family of sorts, always joining them for dinner and going swimming in their olympic size pool.

"What a great worker." She thought to herself as went down the stairs and approached the front door, opening it and half-expecting Cody to be there in a run-down tux or even Erick there trying to get her to give him money for go-karting. But what she saw took her breath away.

"Oh my god..."

It was Cody, but he... he looked marvelous! He was wearing a slick black tuxedo, not a single crease or wrinkle visible, a small red tie on his front, a pair of dark black wrinkle-free slacks, a pair of italian loafers, even a carnation on his his tuxedo top. In his hand, she could see a bouqet of pure white roses, roses that she knew cost a considerable amount of money.

"Cody...", she whispered as she watched the boy offer the roses to her.

"A little gift for you, April.", he smiled as he looked at the girl in front of him. April had gotten herself fancied up as well, wearing a silk white gown, her honey-chestnut hair smoothed out and hanging down like threads of fine silk, a pair of white high-heels adorning her well-manicured feet, even a beautiful diamond necklace resting around her neck. She looked like an angel in every sense of the word.

"Thank you, Cody... I don't know what to say..."

Cody laughed and stepped aside to show a large black limo waiting outside. "Shall we make our exit? You black chariot awaits."

"Cody, how did you-", April found herself starting to blurt out, but Cody merely smiled before he spoke.

"Let's just say I've got a few more dollars than most people think."

April giggled as she let Cody lead her into the limo and the both of them sat back against the plush leather seats as Cody pressed a button on the car wall and watched as the door automatically shut before the limo took off.

* * *

6:00 P.M.

As Cody and April entered the foyer of Chateau De Branc, they couldn't help but marvel at how majestic the restaurant looked. There was elegant classical music playing, chandeliers hung over every table, all the waiters were decked out in beautiful black tuxedos, there was even a magnificent fountain right in the middle of the restaurant.

"It's beautiful...", April whispered to Cody

"No wonder this place is exclusive...", he agreed

It was then a rude voice broke their wonder and, turning towards the host podium, they could see a tall man glaring at them, his thin moustache straightened and stiff.

"Excuse me, but do you two plan on eating here? If not, then get out! This is not a place for the likes of looky-loos like you!"

"B-but...", April stammered taken aback, "But I put a reservation here weeks ago. I put in a $400 advance!"

"Ah... the high schooler...", The man spat out, "Very well, we set up a table in the very back for you. That way you won't bother the more refined guests we have here."

At this point, April found herself close to tears, never having been berated so badly in her life, when suddenly a calm voice came out from next to her.

"_Je comprends votre aversion pour les Américains, mais I vraiment don' ; t apprécient comment you' ; parler re à ma date. Je promets we' ; well-mannered, instruits re, polis, et ont les fonds nécessaires à manger ici. Nous savons exclusif et majestueux ce restaurant est, et we' ; re juste ici pour avoir un repas gentil, appréciez la belle architecture, et conversez. Est-ce que moi et ma date pourraient svp avoir un siège et regarder au-dessus du menu pour quelque chose délectable pour manger de votre château magnifique ?_"

Immediately the entire restaurant went silent, the man before them standing there with his mouth agape. April turned to Cody, her mouth in a silent O shape in total shock.

"I took advanced French last year and have been mastering the language since.", Cody replied.

"My monsuier, I... I'm so sorry.", the man stammered out, "I never knew a high-school could be so fluent and refined... I'm so very sorry for how I acted."

"It's ok, sir."

"Please, call me Pierre."

"It's ok, Pierre, I know about what happened before and I know how that can give a bad impression of most people like us."

"You two don't deserve to sit in the back... there's got to be something I can do to make up for how I treated your date."

It was then Pierre snapped his fingers and, pulling out a black pager, clicked it on and spoke into the device.

"Andrew, it's Pierre. The table reserved for Miss Kingsley, move it right next to the fountain now and get it proper for her and her charming date."

Hearing the other end respond, Pierre clicked off the pager and turned back to Cody and April.

"It may take a few minutes to get the table readjusted, is there something I can do for you while you wait?"

"Well, we wouldn't mind a menu to look over what we'd like to dine on."

"But of course!", Pierre smiled before reaching behind the podium and pulling out two menus for the couple, "And again, Madam, I am so sorry for how I acted. I never knew you had such refined taste."

"It's ok, Pierre, really."

With that, April and Cody sat on one of the plush waiting sofas and opened up the menu, looking over all the items. It took them only a few minutes to make their decisions before they handed the menus back, telling Pierre what they wanted and sitting back down

* * *

6:21 P.M.

As Cody and April got themselves seated at their table they couldn't help me marvel at how fancy even the TABLES looked. They were covered with a nice white tablecloth, pink cloth napkins at both seats, even a tall white lit candle on the center. Immediately, Cody pulled out April's chair for her and waited until she was seated before he sat down at his own spot. They didn't have to wait long for a waiter to come by with their orders.

"Let's see, a fine Oyster Bouillabaisse with Camembert Cheese on the top and a glass of cherry sparkling cider for Monsuier Cody, and Foie gras with light cream and a sparkling grape cider for Madam April. Will there be anything else?"

Cody shook his head and smiled as the waiter set the food down and walked off. But instead of eating, Cody found himself looking back at April, the girl still in astonishment at what she had witnessed.

"I don't believe it... how... how are you doing all this?", April stammered

Cody sighed and set down his spoon before he spoke. "My dad.."

"Your dad?", April asked with a puzzled look on her face.

"My dad's an engineer and he makes a considerable amount of money. When he heard I was going on a date, he was so thrilled that he gave me use of one of his cards for the night with no limit as long as I didn't do something stupid like buy an entire baseball team."

This got a laugh out of April and Cody before the latter continued

"I rarely do use my dad's money at all, I prefer people to like me not for what I have.. but for what I am, as corny as that sounds. Maybe that's why people think I'm so nerdy."

"You're not nerdy, Cody.", April said, placing her hand on his, "You're a sweet, thoughtful individual and if I wasn't involved with Erick... who knows, maybe we could be a couple."

"As nice as that would be, I'm not gonna try to break you two up. I know Erick really likes you, he just needs to get his head straightened a bit. I bet later tonight he's gonna realize that and call you to apologize for how he acted."

"That is so sweet of you to say...", April cooed, her and Cody gazing deep into each others eyes for a few moments before starting in on their meals.

* * *

7:43 P.M.

As the limo arrived back at April's house, the door opened to allow the two to get out as Cody walked April to the door.

"I really had a good time tonight, Cody.", April admitted.

"So did I. Even though I know this was just to spite Erick a bit, I did have fun!", Cody agreed, blushing a bit. "I... I don't suppose maybe next week you'd want to go see a movie with me as well?"

April was about to tell Cody that she was busy with Erick, but as she reflected on the evening, she realized that Cody was a very genuine and caring boy and that he really liked her.

"Cody... I would love that very much."

Suddenly, April leaned in and gave Cody a soft kiss on his cheek, hugging him at the same time before she opened the door to go back into her house.

"Goodnight, Cody.. I'll see you tomorrow at school!"

"G-g-goodnight, April.", Cody managed to stammer as he watched her head inside, gently closing the door behind her. He stood there for almost a minute before he walked back to the limo and leaned against the door as he looked at the darkening sky and smiling.

_"L'amour peut être des beaucoup chose spledored"_ he whispered to the sky as he climbed into the limo and laid back against the plush seat, closing his eyes in pure satisfaction and bliss.


End file.
